Multiple channels and separate overlays

1. Combine capture in one session

Add the intended source chats in SSN and confirm one fresh message from each reaches the same unfiltered Streaming Chat Dock. Keep that Dock as your operator view.

Copy generated links so their session, password, version, and server settings remain intact. Add each audience view as a separate OBS Browser Source. Give OBS sources descriptive names such as Twitch chat and YouTube chat.

2. Split rolling chat by platform

For rolling chat, make two copies of your generated dock.html URL. Append these options to the respective copies:

For example, with a default connection:

https://socialstream.ninja/dock.html?session=YOUR_SESSION_ID&onlyfrom=twitch&hidemenu

Use onlyfrom and hidefrom for these pages. Do not assume an option such as onlytype from another overlay works here. Use youtubeshorts separately when the capture reports that type. See Source types.

3. Split selected messages

For selected rather than rolling chat, duplicate your generated featured.html link and add &onlyfrom=twitch to one copy and &onlyfrom=youtube to the other. Keep the operator Dock open to select messages.

The current Featured Chat onlyfrom accepts one source type. The Dock’s comma-separated example above should not be copied into that field on Featured Chat.

4. Two channels on the same platform

onlyfrom=twitch selects Twitch as a platform, not a particular Twitch channel. Channel names and stream titles are metadata, not interchangeable URL filter names. Add &showchannelname to show channel names when supplied by the source.

For advanced Dock filtering, &filtertid=123 accepts the numeric originating tab ID; comma-separated IDs are supported. Inspect an actual captured payload to obtain its tid (see Event reference and Commands & API). Do not use a platform channel ID here. Tab IDs can change when sources reopen, and sources without a matching tab ID may be excluded. This is a Dock option, not a general Featured Chat channel filter.

For fully independent productions, use separate capture instances/profiles with distinct sessions and open only each production’s intended sources there. Giving one overlay a different session without matching capture will leave it idle. An overlay’s label identifies a page for routing; it is not a channel filter.

5. Verify each audience view

1. Send a fictional Twitch test message and a fictional YouTube test message into an isolated session using Create test messages.
2. Confirm both appear in the operator Dock, and each rolling overlay shows only its intended source.
3. Feature each message and test the clear button. Check all visible featured pages after switching platforms.
4. Repeat with a real message from each of your own connected sources, since synthetic messages cannot establish actual source-tab IDs.

If a view is blank, remove its filter temporarily. If chat returns, check the exact source type or tab ID. If it remains blank, use session and routing troubleshooting. Changing an OBS source’s name does not update its saved URL.

6. Chat and alerts in one browser tab

Use Combine overlays to layer existing overlay URLs in one tab or one OBS Browser Source. This is useful when reading chat on a phone during an IRL stream.

1. Paste your generated Streaming Chat Dock URL into the bottom layer and your Multi-Stream Alert Box URL into the top layer. Keep the session, password, and connection options in both links.
2. Leave Transparent SSN background checked. Allow taps and scrolling on the chat layer; leave it unchecked for alerts so they do not block chat interaction.
3. Select Preview, then Show QR code and scan it with your phone’s camera. Or select Copy combined link to paste the result into a browser source. The combined view has no setup controls.

You can add up to eight URLs and use the arrow buttons to move a layer behind or in front of another. Layers fill the browser by default. Expand Size and position on a layer to set its width, height, left offset, and top offset in pixels (for example, 450) or percentages (for example, 100%). Blank width and height fill the browser; blank offsets start at the top-left corner. Reset to fullscreen clears that layer’s placement. Each overlay retains its own content and settings.

For a left chat column on a 1920×1080 OBS Browser Source, set the chat layer’s width to 450, height to 1080, left to 0, and top to 0. Leave Featured Chat and Emoji Wall at their fullscreen defaults above it. Set the preview’s browser source dimensions to 1920 by 1080 to see the layout scaled down. These preview dimensions do not change OBS: set the actual Browser Source to the same dimensions. Pixel sizes stay fixed when the browser changes size; percentages follow the browser’s width or height.

Use the editable link to reopen the setup with your URLs and placement filled in. To edit a combined link later, add ?edit=1 before its #.

Your links and layer options are saved automatically in this browser, including unfinished setups. Reopen Combine overlays to continue editing, or select Clear saved setup to start over. Browser storage may be unavailable or temporary in private browsing.

The combined link and QR code contain the complete layout and URLs. Set up on desktop, scan once on mobile, then bookmark the combined view. Opening it also saves that setup in the phone’s browser. Changes on desktop do not automatically update an older link: copy or scan the new link after editing. This feature does not sync settings through your session ID.

Keep combined links and QR codes as private as the individual overlay links. SSN capture must still be running, and the phone must be able to reach the servers used by the original URLs. A localhost or 127.0.0.1 address points to the device opening the link. Very long URLs may exceed QR capacity; the combined link can still be copied.

If a layer is blank or covers chat

• Open each original URL separately first. Alerts normally remain empty until an event arrives; combining pages does not capture new events.
• Automatic transparency supports dock.html, featured.html, multi-alerts.html, and minecraft.html. Other pages need their own transparent background settings. Some external sites block embedding entirely.
• A transparent layer can still block taps. Turn off Allow taps and scrolling on any layer above the chat that does not need interaction.
• Mobile browsers may require interaction with a page before playing sound. If needed, enable interaction for that layer and tap it; browser autoplay restrictions still apply. Check audio on the actual phone before relying on it.